When will John Cena return to WWE to kickoff his Retirement Tour in 2025? Exploring potential start date

John Cena returned at Money in the Bank 2024 in Toronto, Canada with overwhelming news for the WWE Universe. Cena announced that he will be retiring from in-ring competition in 2025. While he had previously said he would wrap up his illustrious career before turning 50, it wasn't believable until he made it official.

As per Cena's announcement, all the premium live events in 2025 will be his last. During the post-show conference, The Champ revealed that the plan was to begin the retirement tour in January 2025 and finish it in December 2025. During the year, The Cenation Leader and WWE will try to cover as many dates as possible, and he will try to make as many appearances as possible.

Even though no date has been announced, one can assume the 16-time World Champion will be back by January 2025. WWE started 2024 with the Day 1 edition of RAW on January 1, 2024, on Monday.

However, it is highly unlikely that the company will host another Day 1 edition of red brand next year, as January 1, 2025, is a Wednesday.

So, if John Cena is to return to WWE in the first week of January, it can be on SmackDown on January 3, 2025. On the other hand, Cena did mention Royal Rumble during his retirement announcement, and the premium live event is scheduled for February 1, 2025. This too seems like a potential date when The Champ can return to WWE TV during the Men's Royal Rumble match.

Furthermore, John Cena claimed that he is ready to pursue a 17th World Championship if he earns the opportunity, and that chance can be by winning the Men's Royal Rumble match.

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Former WWE writer weighs in on John Cena's retirement announcement

Throughout his career, John Cena has worked under Vince McMahon. As great as that time was for WWE, Triple H is doing a magnificent job in taking WWE to new heights along with TKO's management.

Former WWE Head Writer Vince Russo speculated that The Champ might not want to work under Triple H's regime considering he was one of the closest people to Vince McMahon.

"I think Cena and 'Taker, from what I gather, were probably the two talents closest to Vince [McMahon]. That's what I could take away... So, I think Cena could be bowing out because Cena was a Vince McMahon guy. Cena might not like working under the great regime of Triple H and Shawn Michaels."

Even if one is to assume that Vince Russo has hit bull's eye with his speculation, Triple H did shower praise on the veteran during the Money in the Bank post-show conference, claiming John Cena should be at the top of every Mount Rushmore list!